


truth be told, they have always been each other's

by etotheswan



Series: swan queen week submissions [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Swan Queen Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 01:11:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1761499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etotheswan/pseuds/etotheswan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>new student orientation, hook has two eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	truth be told, they have always been each other's

**Author's Note:**

> day 2 - 6.9.2014 - fake relationship

**truth be told, they have always been each other’s**

“Hey, mom,” Henry mumbles around his mouthful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Regina smiles, says a simple “good morning” and ruffles his hair while he sits at the center island. She moves with ease in the kitchen, even at 6 AM and even when she knows today is a very big day.

“So,” Henry starts, his spoon scraping on the bottom of the bowl, indicating he wants to say something but isn’t really sure how to.

Regina brings her now full coffee cup to her lips, eyes closed, breathes in deep, and says, “Yes, my little prince?”

“Mom, I’m 18. I’m not really all that little anymore.”

“You’ll always be my little prince. Even if we are going to New Student Orientation today.”

“Yeah, about that…”

Regina sets her mug on the center island and leans forward, propping her elbows on the cold granite. “I’m all ears,” she says while looking at her 18 year old son with his shaggy hair, his freckles, his blue eyes.

“When I signed up for orientation, I may have said that I’d be bringing both of my parents.”

“I know, honey. Emma will be here at 8 AM to pick us up.”

“Yeah,” Henry says before he brings his bowl up to his mouth to drink the milk. “But I said you two were married on the form.” He quickly starts drinking the now cinnamon flavored milk and tries not to make eye contact with his mom.

“Henry?” Regina asks, confusion playing over her face.

“Yeah?” He responds as he swivels on the stool and then slides over to the dishwasher in his socks across the wood floor.

“Why would you do a thing like that?”

“Well,” he deposits his bowl and spoon into the dishwasher and then looks up at his mom. “All the other people have two parents and siblings and then there’s me with fairy tales and two moms that aren’t together and one of them _acts_ like she’s in love with a pirate when we all know she’s _not_ and then there’s you…” His voice trails off when Regina turns to face him.

She tightens her bathrobe sash and raises her eyebrows. “What about me, Henry?”

“I just, you know... I mean…”

“Pick a sentence and go with it, my love,” Regina urges, a smile forming on her lips.

“I know you love ma,” he replies, quick, succinct, full of heartache. “I feel like maybe you always have been… y’know, like, in love with her or whatever. Which is so okay with me. I wish that it had been our happy ending to be together instead of… broken… And I just… maybe for once we can be like a family. Y’know, like I always thought we would be.”

“Henry,” Regina whispers, her heart now squeezing itself to death in her chest. She takes a step towards him, places her hand on his cheek and wipes away a tear that had snuck out of his eyes. “You really are an amazing young man. You know that, right?”

He lunges toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her like he started doing once she wasn’t the evil queen anymore. “I love you, mom.”

“I know, my little prince. I know.”

* * *

 

“We could have taken the Benz,” Regina semi-shouts over the loud rumble of the bug’s rapidly aging engine.

Emma smiles when she looks over at the brunette. “I know,” she shouts back. “But then we’d have to _speak_ to each other and not shout and how in the world would we cope with that?”

“You’re _incorrigible_ ,” Regina says with a smile.

“I’m sorry, what?” Emma asks. She heard what Regina said, but she knows it’ll annoy Regina. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed between the two women, they will always poke at the other.

Regina just shakes her head and glances over her shoulder at Henry. He has his headphones in, mouthing words to a rap song, no doubt, tapping out the beat on his knee. She glances back at Emma, her blond hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, her red plaid button down shirt rolled up to her elbows, an older Property of Storybrooke Knights Baseball t-shirt on underneath. “Did he tell you?” Regina asks, leaning across the center console so she doesn’t have to shout.

“Tell me what?” Emma’s eyes shoot up to the rear view mirror to look at Regina leaning in toward her.

“About this orientation?”

“Well, I know we’ll be around hundreds of other parents and kids and we’ll have to talk to other people and it’ll probably be really boring and learning about financial aid and filing that thing… What’s it called? That FASFA?”

“The _FAF_ SA, Emma.”

“FAFSA?”

“Yes, not _FAS_. It’s _FAFSA_.”

“Well, whatever, it’s ridiculous.”

Regina chuckles at Emma and then takes a deep breath. “Henry’s college is paid for. I’m sure you realize that.”

Emma does a double take at Regina, her elbow propped on the center console, her dark hair swaying with the wind from the windows being rolled down slightly. “What?”

“Don’t worry about the FAFSA, Emma. That’s the least of our worries.”

“Then what the hell are you talking about? What else would he tell me?”

“Well,” Regina starts, looking at Emma’s profile again, her breath catching in her throat before she gathers the courage to tell her. “When he filled out the reservation form, he said we were married.”

The bug swerves a bit on the road and Emma corrects the movement while coughing. _Violently_.

“Are you okay?” Regina asks, reaching for the wheel.

Emma bats her hand away and finally takes a very deep breath, nodding her head and glancing at Regina again.

“What the heck is going on, ma?” Henry asks from the back seat.

“Nothing, sweetie,” Regina asks. “She just swallowed wrong.”

“Yeah, kid, I’m fine,” Emma gets out, her voice hoarse. She watches as Henry puts his earphones back in place and then she looks over at Regina. “What the _fuck_?” she hisses, her fingers are turning white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. She feels like she was just sucker punched. “Why would he do _that_?”

Regina looks over her shoulder again at Henry. “He wants to be normal, Emma.”

“Two moms is _normal_?” She hisses, again.

“Yes,” Regina whispers, her eyes moving back to look at Emma. “It’s more normal than Evil Queens and White Knights.”

Emma opens her mouth to protest and then closes it with a click. Regina is right. _Fuck._

* * *

 

“Welcome, welcome, to the Parent Section of New Student Orientation!”

Regina crossed her legs as she sat next to Emma, who, quite frankly had been obviously uneasy about this entire set-up since the minute they pulled into the parking lot. They were in a large auditorium now with hundreds of other parents. She let her eyes wander nonchalantly over to Emma, who had her arms folded across her chest, her jean-clad legs crossed at the knee.

“So, how many parents are nervous about letting their student go out into the world all alone?”

Regina watched as almost every hand shot into the air. She raised her hand hesitantly and watched as Emma’s fingers twitched and then her hand also raised.

“It’s definitely a scary thing, learning when to worry and when to trust that your student is going to handle things correctly. We can only hope that we’ve instilled them with the right tools to make good choices and not get into trouble.”

“Too much trouble,” a parent in the back of the room shouted, which resulted in laughter from the other parents.

“Exactly,” said the speaker on the stage. “It’s impossible to protect them from everything.”

“What about drinking and partying? How do we ensure that our children aren’t doing those things?”

“Well,” the speaker said with a laugh. “That’s going to be impossible to stop them completely from doing those things. They’re college kids. They’ll probably party. They might drink. What you can hope, though, is that you’ve taught them restraint, moderation, and responsibility.”

“You don’t think Henry will drink and party, do you?” Regina whispers as she leans into Emma’s ear. She notices a wave of goose bumps on Emma’s arm and wonders what that means. Emma tightens her arms around herself and then looks over at Regina.

“No,” she whispers. “He’s afraid of what we’ll do to him.”

“What _I’ll_ do to him, you mean.”

Emma feels herself smile involuntarily. “Yeah,” she says, nudging Regina with her shoulder.

Regina smiles back and then directs her attention back to the speaker.

“The one thing to remember is to let your student know that you two are united front. Whatever the case may be, if you two are together on the decision, then it makes it easier for the student while they are here. The last thing a student should worry about is what’s going on at home. _This,_ for four years, will be his or her home. So, we want to make sure we make the best of it. And it will fly by!  Before you know it, your student will be graduating and will be getting a job and will be supporting him or herself.” The speaker concludes the session and then dismisses the parents to lunch.

Emma gets up and is leading the way out with Regina trailing slightly behind her when a man and a woman stop them.

“Excuse us?”

Emma stops abruptly, Regina almost running into her backside. “Hi,” Emma says with a smile.

“We just wanted to tell you -” the lady starts.

“We saw you guys at the opening session with your son and we just think it’s wonderful,” the man finishes with a smile.

“I’m sorry?” Emma asks.

“You two are just beautiful together. A happy family. We love to see gay families succeeding and proving people wrong. It’s just wonderful,” the lady says, smiling from ear to ear. “Your family is gorgeous.” She reaches out and touches Emma’s arm and then does the same to Regina. “I look forward to seeing you two out tonight at the parent mixer.

“Mixer?”

“Yes, the mixer! It’s the best part!  Happens every year. This will be our fourth child here, so we’re accustomed to the mixer,” the man explains, laughter spilling from his mouth. “Open bar!” he shouts with a wink. “We’ll see you two later!” The couple whisks away, holding hands, laughing together.

“Um,” Emma says, dumbfounded.

Regina takes a step around Emma. “Looks like we’ll have to participate in the mixer,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

Emma looks after Regina as she starts to walk away. “Wait, what?” she asks as she takes two quick steps and catches up with Regina. “Why are you sorry?” She wraps her fingers around Regina’s bicep and stops her.

“Emma,” Regina protests. “I know this isn’t something you’re happy about. It means so much to Henry and it doesn’t really matter what these people think of us… I just know you aren’t happy about having to pretend. And I understand. I do. So, I’m sorry, because I don’t want you to have to continue to pretend with me.”

“What has happened to you?” Emma asks, her hands on her hips.

Regina lets out a huff. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re so _not_ the evil queen anymore, are you?”

Regina feels a blush fill her cheeks and she looks down at the ground. “No, I suppose I’m not.”

“Let’s go eat,” Emma whispers before she starts walking towards the cafeteria where lunch will be served.

Regina picks up her head and watches Emma walking, her heart in her throat. This is almost _too_ hard for her.

Emma turns around, takes a step backwards and smiles. “Come on,” she says as she motions with her hand. And Regina feels herself smiling.

* * *

 

“I didn’t realize we wouldn’t see Henry at all during this thing,” Emma comments while they’re sitting at a table in the ballroom of the hotel where the mixer is being held. She stirs her vodka cranberry with her straw and then takes a very large gulp of the drink.

“Did you not read the itinerary?” Regina asks, clearing her throat before picking through the bowl of mixed nuts looking for the cashews.

Emma tilts her head and raises an eyebrow at Regina. “Yes, I read the itinerary. But damn, man, it’s like really going to college for him. He has to stay in the dorms and everything.”

“Yeah,” Regina says fondly before she eats a couple cashews. “I think he was nervous.”

“Hell yeah,” Emma responds. She holds her hand out and says, “Don’t eat all the cashews. You know they’re my favorite.”

“I know,” Regina mumbles, handing over three with a huff. “So, how’s _Hook_?”

Emma looks down at her hands and then back up at Regina. “Um, we are… y’know, I mean… I guess we’re… well, we’re on a break actually.”

“What?” Regina asks after swallowing the last bit of her Riesling. “When did that happen?”

“Two weeks ago.”

“And you didn’t tell Henry?”

“He knows.”

“Then why didn’t tell _me_?” Regina asks.

“I’m telling you now, Regina,” Emma says leaning forward onto the table more. She downs the rest of her drink. “It’s not like I’m proud that it isn’t working out. Stop being like that.”

Regina takes a deep breath and tries to hold down the ecstatic dancing and laughter and smile that wants to escape. She’s more excited than irritated and that scares her just a bit. “What happened?” She watches Emma push her fingers through her blond hair, shift her halter top just a bit before responding.

“Nothing _happened_.”

“Emma, stop. What happened?”

Emma looks around the ballroom for the waiter and sees the young man coming towards him. “Can I get another? And can you make it a double? And?” She motions to Regina.

“May I please have an Old Fashioned?”

The waiter smiles and nods and then whisks himself away from the two women. Emma looks at Regina and then down at her now empty drink. “Honestly?”

“Why would I want you to lie to me?”

“He’s jealous of you, Regina.”

Regina lets out a very uncharacteristic laugh. It’s loud and abrupt and so not at all like her that she clamps her lips together. “Whatever do you mean?” she asks, softly, sarcastically, but inquisitively.

Emma rolls her eyes. “Nice,” she says, smiling the entire time. “I just… He says he sees us together.”

“A lot of people see us together. We’re raising Henry _together_.”

“Exactly.” Emma welcomes their drinks and tips the waiter. She takes a big drink from her now double-vodka cranberry and feels it burn her throat a little. “He says he _sees_ us. Sees me. Sees you. Sees us. I mean, whatever. He has two eyes, even if he doesn’t have two hands.”

“But,” Regina starts, swirling her drink in its tumbler. “What does he _see_?”

Emma doesn’t make eye contact with Regina and says, “He sees that we’ve always had feelings for each other.” It comes out so nonchalantly that if Regina hadn’t have been listening closely she might have missed what was really just said.

“Emma?” she asks, her hand slowly reaching across the table.

“No, I mean, you know what I _mean_. It’s just that we have all this history and we hate each other, right? And we love Henry and I guess maybe it changed somewhere, didn’t it?” Emma raises her eyes and looks at Regina’s dark eyes. “It changed and I didn’t want it to become this _thing_ and now it has and I can’t stop it.”

“Emma?” Regina asks again, this time her voice much softer.

“No, just like, come on. It’s not what either of us _want_. We’ve talked about this, Regina. We have. You tried to kill my mom and my dad and you hate me and then Robin and Marian and you still bring it up which means you _are still_ angry with me for that -”

“I am not angry with you for that. I never was angry with you for that, Emma,” Regina cuts Emma off to explain.

“Yeah, well, I knew then and I still tried with Hook and I have been trying for years, Regina. _Years_.”  Emma takes just a sip of her drink this time, instead of a gulp, stirs it quickly, takes another sip, and then looks around the room. “This is so _fucked_ up.”

“What is?” Regina asks, not really knowing what part she needs to play in this conversation anymore.

“This. This whole thing. Henry knew… He knew this would…”

“This would _what_ , Emma?”

Emma looks at Regina, her black blouse, her black pants, her black heels. “You… just… I need to breathe. I need air.” She stands up, shaky in her black boots. “I’ll see you back at the room.”

“Emma,” Regina says as she gets up to follow her.

“Well, hello there Swan-Mills family!” The lady from earlier in the day stops Emma in her tracks.

Regina catches up to Emma and smiles. “Hi there, how are you?” she asks, reaching down to intertwine her fingers with Emma’s and to her surprise, Emma doesn’t let go.

“We are just fine. I wanted to come say hello again and just tell you once again how happy I am to have met you two. Such beautiful women with such a beautiful boy. Are you two heading in? Can we have a drink together?”

Emma smiles and then says, “I’m so sorry, but yes, we’re heading in for the night.”

Regina feels Emma’s fingers tighten around hers. “Looks like we’ll have to meet up tomorrow for coffee,” Regina comments, smiling through the nerves.

“Sounds wonderful!  Have a good night!”

Emma takes off again, this time practically dragging Regina with her. They arrive at the elevator, Emma still holding on tightly to Regina’s hand and when the bell dings that their ride has arrived, they push through the people getting off. Emma frantically presses the button to close the door and when it slides shut, she looks at Regina and says, “You’re all I think about, Regina.”

And that’s when Regina decides that this whole fake relationship is not really a fake at all. She pulls Emma towards her, sliding her hands into the blonde hair that has been plaguing her dreams for years. When their lips meet, there’s a spark inside her that she has never felt before and it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that their magic is connected on _all levels_.

Emma’s hands are traveling over Regina’s arms, down her sides, across her back, ass, back up again, pushing Regina into the wall of the elevator. She feels Regina’s tongue play against hers and it makes everything in her body heat up instantly. “What are we doing?” she asks against those beautiful red lips she hasn’t stopped thinking about since the moment she met Regina.

If only she had understood then what it all meant.

“I don’t know,” came Regina’s breathless reply. She bit down lightly on Emma’s bottom lip and then kissed her deeply again. “I can’t stop this now, Emma,” she breathes against and into the blonde’s mouth.

“I don’t want to stop,” Emma whispers when she kisses her way across Regina’s jawline to her ear.

The elevator dings to indicate that they’re at their floor and they break apart to walk to their room. Emma slides the keycard into the hotel door and it clicks to unlock. They push through the door and as soon as it closes, Emma turns and latches onto Regina’s hand. She pulls her, wrapping her arms around the woman, finding the buttons of the blouse and carefully undoing them so she can pull the shirt up and over Regina’s head.

Regina’s hands are busy, unbuttoning Emma’s black jeans, untying the thin strap that was holding her halter top in place, pushing the material down around Emma’s waist, realizing that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Within seconds, the pants are coming off and then heels are ditched.

“Emma?”

She leans down to latch onto Regina’s nipple through the material of her black bra. “Yes?” she says, her hands snaking around to unsnap the bra. It goes limp, then her hands are sliding under the straps, removing the piece of clothing.

“You’re sure about this?”

Emma hooks her index finger under the waistband of Regina’s black thong, slowly slides it down Regina’s olive legs and then stands back up. “I’ve only been sure about two things in my life.”

“What were they?” Regina asks, watching as Emma starts to slide her own panties down her legs, smiling as she kicks them gracefully off to the side.

“I was sure Henry was telling the truth about being mine.”

“Well, yeah, he has your eyes… and chin,” Regina whispers the last part, her heart aching.

Emma reaches forward, her fingers ghosting over Regina’s toned stomach, down to the apex of her thighs. “And you.”

“What about me?”

“I am sure about you…”

“You were the only one to see me as _Regina_.”

Emma smiles as she slips a finger between Regina’s thighs and watches her close, her head leans back slightly, her chest rises and falls. “You’ve always been Regina to me,” she says when she takes a step forward and places her lips as close to Regina’s neck without touching her. She can feel how wet the brunette is and it excites her.

“Emma,” Regina whispers when she feels the blonde’s thin fingers slid between her.  She delights in the feel of fingers, lips, breasts. When she lets Emma lead her backwards towards the bed, she hits the mattress with a thud, watches green eyes rake over her body, sees a smile, a heart, a hand.

“This is going to change everything.”

Regina smiles when she feels Emma’s knee slide between her thighs, press against her center. “I hope so,” she murmurs when Emma’s blond hair falls over her shoulder. Regina raises her hands and pulls Emma down to kiss her. “I hope so…”

Because truth be told?

They have always been each other’s.


End file.
